Sibierski Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Sterling is still more than physically, it’s the mental side. He’s earned the money, won the trophies, has he got it in him to go again at 30 for a 3 year run is the question. Reason he was so crap at Arsenal was because he was barely playing and out of rhythm. For all the crosses we put in, I’d back him getting double figures in our side from LW. What he’s so good at. He’s final third game is what I had hope Gordon would develop into past 18 months. Not an amazing striker of the ball, but the desire / fitness and intelligence to always get in that far post, but alas, he hasn’t developed that. See glimpses at times, but it’s not becoming the norm which it should be by now at this stage in his career. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earp Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 I'm sure it was him who posted a pic of his newly fitted gold taps in the bathroom just after we'd been knocked out of the Euros by Iceland. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Spaceman Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 As if the rest of the squad were squeaky clean....right Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 6 hours ago, Sibierski said: Only thing to be ‘jealous’ of Villa is Emery able to hold together a poor transfer strategy. Never have and never will get on board with their approach. It’s waiting to blow up but Emery is somehow holding it together. Probably can make an argument it’s not even him, it’s scoring bangers from distance that’s papering over the issues there. Them getting UCL will be annoying because it’s the opportunity to reset and take a different approach with funds, because route they’re on is very short term and ready to end in tears. I disagree really. On Sunday Aston Villa started 2 players they bought as part of PSR workarounds - Onana & Maatsen - that's a nod to their acumen. They also started someone they brought in on loan which we'll never do. They've obviously made mistakes - as any high-volume approach will have. But they got to FA Cup Semi's, CL QFs & 66 points with what was a strong squad last season. This season they've kept all of their best players, competing well in the Europa League and are 3rd in the league. Transfer strategy can't be that bad. The thing I like most, is they will put together squad depth no matter what. We seem allergic to that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteV Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 5 minutes ago, The College Dropout said: The thing I like most, is they will put together squad depth no matter what. We seem allergic to that. They have, but you can’t discount the squad strength they had when Emery took over, versus the squad strength we had when Eddie took over. On top of that, they’ve benefited massively from a strong academy, something which we’re still significantly behind on, thanks to the years of neglect under Ashley. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 9 minutes ago, The College Dropout said: I disagree really. On Sunday Aston Villa started 2 players they bought as part of PSR workarounds - Onana & Maatsen - that's a nod to their acumen. They also started someone they brought in on loan which we'll never do. They've obviously made mistakes - as any high-volume approach will have. But they got to FA Cup Semi's, CL QFs & 66 points with what was a strong squad last season. This season they've kept all of their best players, competing well in the Europa League and are 3rd in the league. Transfer strategy can't be that bad. The thing I like most, is they will put together squad depth no matter what. We seem allergic to that. They are at least trying, we just seem happy to follow the rules no matter what, problem is if we don't qualify for the Champions League this season we'll have less money to improve the squad and keep our existing "Purples". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monters Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 47 minutes ago, Sibierski said: Sterling is still more than physically, it’s the mental side. He’s earned the money, won the trophies, has he got it in him to go again at 30 for a 3 year run is the question. Reason he was so crap at Arsenal was because he was barely playing and out of rhythm. For all the crosses we put in, I’d back him getting double figures in our side from LW. What he’s so good at. He’s final third game is what I had hope Gordon would develop into past 18 months. Not an amazing striker of the ball, but the desire / fitness and intelligence to always get in that far post, but alas, he hasn’t developed that. See glimpses at times, but it’s not becoming the norm which it should be by now at this stage in his career. You'd lose Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 13 minutes ago, SteV said: They have, but you can’t discount the squad strength they had when Emery took over, versus the squad strength we had when Eddie took over. Yet they still use loans. We never do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteV Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 3 minutes ago, The College Dropout said: Yet they still use loans. We never do. They do. But Emery builds his squad in a very transactional way, players come and go quite regularly. Howe obviously takes a very different approach. He’s all in on developing players, rather than swapping them in and out. You can take your pick on which way you prefer, but it’s clear that loans lend themselves far better to Emery’s method than Howe’s. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 (edited) 1 hour ago, SteV said: They do. But Emery builds his squad in a very transactional way, players come and go quite regularly. Howe obviously takes a very different approach. He’s all in on developing players, rather than swapping them in and out. You can take your pick on which way you prefer, but it’s clear that loans lend themselves far better to Emery’s method than Howe’s. I agree that they have different approaches. And I would be ok with it if "he's all in on developing players" was true or more true. This summer, he's had the most control over transfers and decided to buy most of his players 23-24 years old with 100+ senior top level appearances - predominantly in the PL. An average age of 24.5 and i'm discounting Ramsdale (25 including). That's players entering their prime imo - they can and will still develop but it's finishing school. IMO we need to be genuinely developing players at a younger age bracket than what we've been targeting recently. More in that 18-21 bracket and for the older brackets we go for the Tonali's, Isak's with the occasional Harvey Barnes. If anything Howe has shown that he doesn't feel he can/or want to develop players. He doesn't actively create pathways for younger players. I love Howe and i'm a major supporter. But he needs to change approach and at lest transfer wise he will be forced. Signing a fullback and any type of creative/attacker might be the difference between Europe and no Europe. Edit: when we had Ashworth and co. and qualified for the CL the average age of the signings was 21.5 (20.8 if you include Minteh). That's the development gap of Madueke at £30m 21yo and Madueke at £55m at 24yo. So we are signing players for the here and now but won't entertain a loan. Edited January 28 by The College Dropout Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteV Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 2 minutes ago, The College Dropout said: If anything Howe has shown that he doesn't feel he can/or want to develop players. He doesn't actively create pathways for younger players. Surely Hall, Livramento and now Miley contradict that? Obviously the further into the elite level you go, the more difficult it becomes, as the raw talent has to be significant to give them a realistic chance. Maybe we could shop more in the Hall/Tino bracket, but neither were cheap, and spending a reasonable amount on a ‘development’ player, has become more difficult in terms of PSR. Maybe it will be slightly easier come the summer, if our financial situation is better than the last couple of summers. Where the club are essentially failing Howe (and it’s not quickly fixed) is in providing him with next to nothing to work with from the academy. He might be excellent at developing talent, but he can’t turn water into wine. Hopefully over the next couple of years, the likes of Alabi, Sahar and Neave buck the trend. I wouldn’t hold my breath like. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibierski Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 (edited) 2 hours ago, The College Dropout said: I disagree really. On Sunday Aston Villa started 2 players they bought as part of PSR workarounds - Onana & Maatsen - that's a nod to their acumen. They also started someone they brought in on loan which we'll never do. They've obviously made mistakes - as any high-volume approach will have. But they got to FA Cup Semi's, CL QFs & 66 points with what was a strong squad last season. This season they've kept all of their best players, competing well in the Europa League and are 3rd in the league. Transfer strategy can't be that bad. The thing I like most, is they will put together squad depth no matter what. We seem allergic to that. Maatsen only started more games in the last few months, after being there for 18 months. Not really an indication that Emery is keen on him long term. Then Onana was an overpayment, whose body probably can’t hack it long term. Their squad is so heavily weighted to the 29+ age and that’s not sustainable long term. If they didn’t get UCL this season, they’d be so fucked. But long rangers are really carrying them to it. It’s easy to be envious, but their squad isn’t well built long term. Monchi is gone after he’s typical sign loads sell loads, their PSR deals are a mess as much as ours. I’d rather take our approach of 21-25 age bracket, it’s just the main one in that of Elanga is a dud so far. Moved on Malen to sign Tammy ffs. Edited January 28 by Sibierski Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 9 minutes ago, Sibierski said: Maatsen only started more games in the last few months, after being there for 18 months. Not really an indication that Emery is keen on him long term. Then Onana was an overpayment, whose body probably can’t hack it long term. Their squad is so heavily weighted to the 29+ age and that’s not sustainable long term. If they didn’t get UCL this season, they’d be so fucked. But long rangers are really carrying them to it. It’s easy to be envious, but their squad isn’t well built long term. Monchi is gone after he’s typical sign loads sell loads, their PSR deals are a mess as much as ours. I’d rather take our approach of 21-25 age bracket, it’s just the main one in that of Elanga is a dud so far. Moved on Malen to sign Tammy ffs. Maatsen was a key player in Dortmund running to the CL final and was seen as a Hall-level blunder to sell him by Chelsea. The fact Emery preferred Digne for so long, is on Emery and no reflection on Maatsen. Likewisd moving on Malen for Abraham is on Emery. Villa are about to go Europa CL Europa CL over the last 4 years. The transfer approach has facilitated that. If we don’t get European football - a big chance of that happening - largely because we don’t have enough quality player that the manager is willing to use. We have to question the transfer approach and challenge the manager to be more flexible. Honestly I would rather loans than spend the big money on Wissa. A 1 year gamble vs a 4 year gamble. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beren Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 3 hours ago, AyeDubbleYoo said: He's crap? He's not £2m crap IMO. Especially with our injuries/preferred style of play. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menace Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Sterling at Arsenal was sad to see. He could barely run. City bought him at the best time and sold him at the absolute top. Great business. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorJ_01 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 9 minutes ago, Beren said: He's not £2m crap IMO. Especially with our injuries/preferred style of play. Probably on an epic wage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 (edited) 58 minutes ago, SteV said: Surely Hall, Livramento and now Miley contradict that? Obviously the further into the elite level you go, the more difficult it becomes, as the raw talent has to be significant to give them a realistic chance. Maybe we could shop more in the Hall/Tino bracket, but neither were cheap, and spending a reasonable amount on a ‘development’ player, has become more difficult in terms of PSR. Maybe it will be slightly easier come the summer, if our financial situation is better than the last couple of summers. Where the club are essentially failing Howe (and it’s not quickly fixed) is in providing him with next to nothing to work with from the academy. He might be excellent at developing talent, but he can’t turn water into wine. Hopefully over the next couple of years, the likes of Alabi, Sahar and Neave buck the trend. I wouldn’t hold my breath like. It is my belief that those were largely Ashworth-driven signings evidenced by us not signing 19-20yo's for a proper first-team role the more autonomy Howe has had over transfers. And his general preference for trust and experience. Miley has only ever got runs in the side due to injury crisis. Multiple players in the same position to get him a game. Then he's excelled. He didn't have a genuine pathway. I give Howe credit for all 3 anyway but he's not intentionally developed and platformed young players the way Chelsea managers are being forced too or the RB/Dortmund models. Development players is more PSR-friendly than pretty much every signing we made in the summer. The signings we made are for results, not PSR directly. And that is a change in approach. The original approaches for JP & Etikite those years back were for players tha needed development. Edited January 28 by The College Dropout Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 City Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teslact Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 34 minutes ago, Beren said: He's not £2m crap IMO. Especially with our injuries/preferred style of play. Is there any point in benching / pushing down further Elanga for him? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Joel Inton Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 4 hours ago, John P said: Isn't there some stat around players who started playing regular first team football really young often being finished by their early 30s (e.g., Rooney). Think I read something looking at minutes played by a certain age and they have a huge drop off after that point. Looks like Sterling can be added to that list You also have examples like Vardy who were late on the scene and managed to continue later in the years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 4 hours ago, Beren said: Wait, what. I don't get it. Why is Adama Traore that cheap. He's bobbins. There's a reason they only signed him on a deal til the end of the season. Without having looked I'd be willing to bet he'll have the worst goal/assist numbers out of any other wide player to clock up a similar number of PL appearances. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paully Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 14 goals in 262 premier league appearances for A Traore btw if anyone was wondering. Yes a lot will be as sub but howay Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbandit Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Hope Sterling rinsed them as close to dry as possible Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Joel Inton Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 I don’t rate Sterling at all but you couldn’t say no to him on a free if his wages were anything reasonable. Sadly, I doubt his wages would be reasonable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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